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Tuesday, 18 August 2015

SWAZI GLOBAL WEEK OF ACTION LAUNCH

Organisations campaigning for multi-party democracy in Swaziland will stage an
international campaign next month (September 2015).

Protests will be
conducted both inside Swaziland and in South Africa.

The Global Week of Action
for Democracy in Swaziland that will be in the first week of September. The
event is held each year.

King Mswati III rules
Swaziland as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch. Political parties are
barred from taking part in elections and organisations campaigning for
democracy are banned under the Suppression of Terrorism Act. No members of the
Swaziland Senate are elected by the people and the King chooses the government.
In June 2015, Swaziland was named among the ten worse countries in the world for workers’ rights.

Provincial secretary of
the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) in Mpumalanga, Fidel
Mlombo, told a
media conference, ‘We are going
to lead protest actions inside Swaziland from the 1st to the 4th September.
There will be protest actions inside Swaziland as a build up for the ultimate
Mother of All battles that will be held on the 9th of September 2015.’

Communist Party of
Swaziland’s General Secretary, Kenneth Kunene, said, ‘The world must be fully
aware that Swazi suffering also requires support. The isolation of the regime
will make sure that (King) Mswati does not breathe, because the more he breathes,
the country suffers, because he thinks he can manipulate the world by claiming
there is a process towards democratisation in Swaziland, yet there’s much
repression.’

Mlombo added, ‘We call on the world to isolate Swaziland and its autocratic
monarchy through sanctions. We further demand that a conducive environment be
created for genuine political dialogue regarding the future of Swaziland.’